Fire and Light
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: "...despite all the girls giggling about him, Rey Jade knew he was trouble." The Hogwarts AU no one asked for. Random!Rey, NOT RELATED AU. Reylo of course.
1. Solo's Prodigy

_"But which has more auma, fire or light?"_ -Chris D'Lacey, _The Fire Ascending._

* * *

After sitting through Professor Jinn's Magical Theory lecture, Rey slipped out of the classroom with her friends, Poe and Finn.

"I didn't understand a word of that last part about pink magic," Finn admitted nervously. He and Poe then immediately stared at Rey. She raised an eyebrow.

"Are you asking me because pink is a 'girl color'?" She demanded.

"No, it's that you're the best at the class," Poe said quickly. While he was the Quidditch star under Mr. Antilles, academics weren't so much of his thing. Unfortunately, if he wanted to get into the Aurors, like his parents before him, he would have to take advanced magical classes like Magical Theory. In fact, the only reason that Rey and Finn were in there in the first place was because he begged them to suffer with him.

"I've only got the grades I do because I apparently remind him of his prodigy, Ben Kenobi," Rey reminded them. Why, though, she didn't understand, since she wasn't related to him. She was a muggle-born, for God's sake!

"Still, you are pretty good," Finn said. He and Poe were in big trouble. If they couldn't wheedle her into this one after she'd sworn off of helping them "since they were big boys now," they were in big trouble.

"Not helping you!" She trilled. "Copy the notes off of someone else."

"But we're used to reading your handwriting," Poe protested as the walked into Professor Solo's classroom.

"Find someone else," she deadpanned as she slipped into her seat, wand on her desk as Professor Solo liked it. He believed in knowing how to use both muggle and magical weaponry and often expressed the importance of both.

"Please, I'll give you all of the cakes I get from Mum the next few months," Poe pleaded. Rey considered. This meant that he really was serious. Unfortunately, that's when Professor Solo entered the room, and everyone shut up before they could get into too big of trouble.

"Alright, today, we're going to be going over the lightsaber spell on your wand," Solo said. "This is a very dangerous spell. I want all of you to be extremely careful. Understand?"

A murmur of assent echoed across the room.

"The incantation will create a blade of pure light. This can very easily cut off your hand. DO NOT TOUCH THE GLOWING END!" Everyone jumped and nodded.

"Good," Solo continued. "The incantation is _Gladius Luminus_. Stand up, at least arm's length away from each other."

The sixth-years obeyed and got to their feet.

"Alright, cast now," Solo ordered, and everyone casted their spells.

Poe had a yellow blade spring out of his oak wand, a blue out of Finn's cedar, and another blue out of Rey's rowan wand. The trio grinned at each other as Kyp Durron waved around a really long purple lightsaber and Professor Solo had to go calm him down. They were all laughing, when the room went silent.

On instinct, they turned around to see in the back of the room, Ben Solo's wand emitting a red blade. But something was wrong with it. The energy crackled like a fire instead of being a smooth beam of light, and there were two mini-blades coming off of the sides.

"Ben, deactivate that now before anyone gets hurt," Solo said softly to his son.

"Why? I just changed the spell around a little," Ben whined. "It's not hurting anybody!"

"Son, lightsabers aren't supposed to look like that-"

"WELL IT DOES NOW!" Ben yelled.

" _Nox maxima_ ," Solo said, and all the lightsabers in the room went out. He turned and scanned the room. "Jade, could you escort Mr. Solo to Headmaster Skywalker's office?"

Rey sighed and got to her feet. She stomped over to where the Slytherin was standing. She'd heard a fair bit of gossiping about Ben Solo from her dorm mates. Apparently, he was the family disappointment. Most would say it was because he was in Slytherin, despite the famous Auror, Leia Organa-Solo (his mother) being one. No, it was because he was a huge worshipper of Anakin Skywalker, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's attack dog. He and his father fought often, and despite all the girls giggling about him, Rey Jade knew he was trouble.

"Come with me," she said coldly, and she marched out of the room, not caring whether or not he was following. They were about halfway to the headmaster's office when he stopped in front her.

"You're that charity case from that muggle orphanage, right?" He asked, dark eyes intent on hers.

"Yes," she said stiffly. "Come on, we've got to get to Professor Skywalker's office."

He started walking beside her at a lazy pace, making Rey envy his height. She had to run practically everywhere to keep up with anyone. Some girls probably liked that though. She dully wondered what Poe and Finn were doing. Probably having an awesome time. Professor Solo was the best, no questioning it.

"I thought you were," he said, breaking her reverie.

"Why do you care?" She demanded as she looked up at the Slytherin.

"I like to know about the most talented student to come into Hogwarts since Skywalker himself. They're saying that you're the next Anakin Skywalker," he said.

Rey rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd say that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

She closed her eyes in frustration. "Everyone knows you're a Skywalker fanboy," she pointed out.

"Doesn't mean that I didn't mean it as a compliment," he said. "You're really talented, Jade. Really powerful."

"Are you trying to butter me up for something?" Rey demanded.

He laughed, a deep sound like thunder.

"No, I was just trying to make conversation," he admitted. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time."

"Well I haven't," she snapped. "I don't want to talk to you. You're probably still in shock that a muggle-born could be any good compared to you."

"I-"

"And you must be still trying to figure out how on Earth a muggle-born nobody could be as powerful as your damn Anakin Skywalker," she continued, building up steam.

"Rey, I-"

"Don't you dare use my name, you filthy little cockroach!" She yelled. He stared at her for a moment with an expression of seething anger. A little fear rose within her. She'd also heard of Ben Solo's infamous temper. One time, according to urban legend, he'd completely and utterly destroyed the Slytherin common room.

"Well, Miss Jade," he said in a cool voice. "I was just going to say that I thought you were really pretty, like that former Prime Minister, Padmé Amidala."

Oh, she thought.

"And that I've been working up the courage for the entire semester to try and talk to you. But since you want nothing to do with me," he said. He stopped right in front of the gargoyles.

"Millennium Falcon," he muttered, and the staircase opened. He gave her a withering stare. "Go back to class. I'll leave you alone, since that's what you wanted."

With that, he stormed up the stairs.

* * *

"Hey Rey," Finn said.

"What?" Rey snapped, a little on edge from Ben.

"Hey, don't take it out on us!" Poe said.

"Sorry, what did you want, Finn?" Rey asked as she massaged her temples.

"I was just wondering why Ben Solo looks really pissed," Finn said.

"He tried to flirt with me and I turned him down," she said.

"That's awesome!" Poe cried, and they passed around high-fives. What they didn't see was Ben staring at Rey like Rey stared at brownies during PMS.

* * *

 **AN: Credit for the last phrase goes to Hobbitbabe, and I'd like to give a shoutout to PandaofManyFandoms for the inspiration!**


	2. Professor Jinn Awakens the Plot

**AN: I kinda integrated the other three Solos, just because I can't let them go. Ben is the middle child. Just so you know. Sorry, couldn't help myself.**

* * *

It was a few weeks later when Professor Jinn began his first project of the semester.

"Many of you have been complaining that you never do anything in this class," the ghost said with a serene smile. "Well, we're going to do a project. You're going to be studying a certain artifact, and you're going to tell me where it falls on the magical spectrum, known uses for said artifact, and if the object is worth using. I want a five-foot thesis paper, minus the bibliography. You'll have one month to do this project, and part of it will have to be outside of class since we have a lot of ground to cover after the whole debate over vampirism. I will assign partners."

Everyone groaned, and Poe and Finn got a little nervous. If they weren't partnered with Rey, they didn't know what they'd do. Rey was just praying that she wouldn't get partnered with an idiot. Professor Jinn was going down the class and moving people to suit his partner choices.

"Rey Jade, stay where you are," Jinn ordered.

Rey's stomach filled with dread. Who would her new partner be?

"Ben Solo, come sit down next to Miss Rey."

She began cursing heavily under her breath. Why did she have to get paired with him? She didn't want to sit next to the blood-purity freak, never mind the fact that he was a half-blood.

He stared at her for a moment before Professor Jinn offered them the basket of topics. Ben nodded at Rey to do it, so she snatched out a slip angrily. _Stupid project_ , she thought as she unfolded it to read 'the Deathly Hallows'. Ben let out a girly gasp of awe.

"Good luck, Miss Jade, Mr. Solo," Professor Jinn as he moved on to give a nervous Poe and Finn their assignment.

"So, do you want to meet in the library to work on the project?" Ben asked.

"Sure, whatever," Rey said as she scribbled the topic down in her Magical Theory notebook.

"Jade, would six work for you?" He asked, sounding bored.

"Sure, whatever," she repeated.

He let out a little irritated noise, and then went back to sketching a Dark Mark onto his notebook cover.

* * *

Rey paced the Gryffindor common room while Poe and Finn sat hunched over their textbooks.

"At least think of it this way," Poe said. "You can report him the minute he gets too annoying. Professor Jinn would totally let you."

"Good point," she acknowledged. "I just hate that filthy little cockroach! He thinks he's so much better than me just because of that stupid blood-purity crap! Well, I'll tell him where he can go stuff his-"

She stopped and looked at her watch that she'd fixed up after scavenging it off the streets. She would have to get down to the library fast. She scooped up her backpack (she didn't care if it was unfashionable or unconventional, it was comfortable) and slung it on her shoulders.

"Pray that I don't end him," Rey said, and Poe and Finn waved as she exited the common room.

In the library, she puffed in. Luckily, she'd gotten there first. She slowed her breathing and slammed down her backpack. She drained her water bottle and then began pulling out her notebook and pens. (Because quills were useless, dammit!)

"I didn't know that Gryffindors could be on time," she heard a deep voice behind her say.

Annoyed, she turned around to see Ben.

"Sit down and help me," she barked.

He did so with a smirk curling at the corners of his mouth.

"I thought that these might be particularly helpful," he volunteered, and he set down a stack of books. Half of them, as suspected, were about Anakin Skywalker. She glared at him.

"Skywalker was the last Master of Death," he protested.

Rey frowned. "Master of Death?"

"Don't you know the story of the Deathly Hallows?" He asked.

"Well, I don't have the pleasure of knowing much about wizardry," she drawled.

"It's the story of the Three Brothers, surely you've heard it," he said with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" She demanded.

"Don't all parents read that to their kids?" He asked incredulously.

Rey looked away. "I wouldn't know. I never knew my parents."

"Oh." His voice softened. "Re- I mean, Miss Jade, I had no idea."

"You see, that's the thing about you," she seethed, finally facing him. "You think you know everything. You think you know all about me, the charity case, when you don't. You think you know Poe Dameron. You don't. You think you know Finn Calrissian, but you don't! You kriffing don't!"

"Kriffing?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"I have my slang and you have yours," she said.

He pulled a book out of his bag and slid it towards her. She glanced down at the book, and then up at him with a look of what do you want me to do with that?

"It's _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ ," he explained as he started shoving the books he'd gotten off the shelf into his messenger bag. "It has 'The Three Brothers' in it. You'll need to know it if you want to do the project correctly."

He then walked away to meet a girl and two boys at the doorway that resembled him greatly, and they walked away.

Rey's stomach rumbled, so she got up and entered the Great Hall. She sat down next to Poe and Finn, who upon sensing her irritation, decided not to interrogate her yet. The girl that Ben had talked to plopped down across from Rey.

"Sorry about my brother," she said. "I'm Jaina. That was my younger brother by nine months, in case you cared."

"I didn't," Rey said stiffly.

"That's alright," Jaina said. "I have two other brothers and none of them are nearly as idiotic as him. Not even Jacen, and he's my twin."

Rey didn't quite know how to respond to the other Solo.

"I just wanted to tell you that if he bothers you too much, let one of us know, and we'll let him have it," she said with the trademark Solo smirk, and then she scooted next to a one-armed redhead girl and began chatting animatedly with her.

"I take it he was a prick, then," Poe said.

Rey nodded. "He got all shocked that I hadn't read _Tales of Beedle the Bard_."

"Little twat," Finn hissed, staring in the direction of the wayward Solo.


	3. Stand Firm

Rey had begrudgingly read the stupid book. Not that she'd ever admit that she actually liked it! Ha. She would never give Ben the satisfaction. She'd stormed back down the library reluctantly the next day. On her way there, she thought she'd heard something in the walls, a voice.

 _Stand firm._

"Hello?" Rey called out.

Nothing.

"Hello? Who's there?" Rey asked. She pressed her ear against the wall. Nothing.

"Who are you talking to?"

She jumped and turned to see Ben staring her down from the doorway to the library. Her eyes scanned over him. For once, she understood why all the girls in her dorm would giggle stupidly and gossip about him. Nice long hair, nice face, and he made a black peacoat work. Green was definitely his color, she decided.

"Miss Jade?"

Her attention returned to her face and she blushed furiously.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd heard something," she said as she shook her head to clear it. She did not find Ben Solo handsome! He was a jerk! A Slytherin! Her mortal enemy!

"Did you read the book?" He asked as she began walking beside him into the library.

"Of course I did, Solo," she snapped, shoving the book into his arms. He fumbled with it for a moment before pushing it into his bag. "Any other stupid questions?"

He frowned. "I didn't think it was stupid-"

"You never did-"

"-but anyways, I was wondering if you had any questions?" He finished.

"I'm not stupid, of course I understood it," Rey snapped. They sat down for a moment. All was silent. "What's the whole Master of Death thing?" She finally asked.

Ben jumped, but he looked happy to explain it.

"The Master of Death is the man that possesses all of the Deathly Hallows-"

"Why isn't it a woman?" She interrupted.

He frowned. "I don't think I even fully explained it, just hold the Floo for a moment. The Deathly Hallows are the gifts Death gave the three brothers. The Elder Wand. The Resurrection Stone. The Master of Death is supposed to be invincible. Most think that the last one was Harry Potter. But it was actually Luke Skywalker.'

Rey's jaw dropped. "Your uncle was the Master of Death?"

"Is currently the Master of Death, like his father before him," Ben said reverently.

"You have a thing for immortality, don't you?" She asked, slightly amused by this.

"Who wouldn't like to live forever?" He asked with a shrug.

"Me," she said genuinely.

"But aren't you a bit of a survivor?" He asked, confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, eyebrows knitting together. How could he possibly know anything about her?

"My. . . father," he began, sounding as if the word pained him. "He left your file out once while he called your mom on the muggle talking device to tell her how wonderful you were."

"You read my file?!" She cried in dismay. Her face went bright pink.

He had the decency to blush himself.

"It was left out by accident and-"

"That's not okay!" She punched him on the arm. "That was private information! I didn't want anybody to know about-"

She bit her lip to keep herself from blurting it out for everyone to hear.

"Your mom? Are you embarrassed by her?" He asked as he tried to look in her eyes. He was told that that was how he made connections with people (something his mother scolded him often about).

"No, not exactly," she said as she looked away and tried to quell her tears. She always cried in a mixture of anger, sadness, and yes, embarrassment, at her mother. Once an upper-class dancer/assassin for a classy gang, her gang had fallen apart, leaving her to fend for herself in newfound poverty. Her mother had risen from the ashes somewhat, being a successful smuggler-successful meaning that she could raise her child and she made enough money to feed said child, but not enough money to draw attention from her old gangster rivals.

"I understand," Ben said quietly. "I understand being resentful towards your mom."

Rey let out a snort and wiped her eyes, almost forgetting for a moment that she'd let her enemy see her cry.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Everyone knows that you resent your parents," she explained as she furiously swiped away tears. "Even first-years that came in the school yesterday know that you resent your parents. The only thing that I can't figure out is why."

He hesitated, obviously afraid to show any weakness.

"The legacy," he finally said. "They were all heroes in the Second Wizarding War. How can I possibly live up to that?"

"If you can't live up to that, how can you live up to your precious Skywalker?" She taunted.

He pursed his lips and looked down at his notebook with the Dark Mark sketched all over it. His gloved hands clenched over it and he closed his eyes. His lips moved but no sound came out, as if he was chanting some mantra to calm down. In fact, Rey could make out what he was saying.

 _"Peace is a lie, there is only passion_

 _Through passion I gain strength_

 _Through strength I gain power_

 _Through power I gain victory_

 _Through victory my chains are broken_

 _The Force shall free me."_

She'd heard that concept before. The Force. Professor Jinn always rambled on about the Living Force, some type of Life Magic that bound everything together and determined fate. Or something like that.

When he opened his eyes, he stared right into hers with all the passion and intensity of fire. Not some candlelight. His were the eyes of fire that raged red and destroyed everything in its grasp.

"I wanted to say. . . " he hesitated, clenching the side of the table for a moment. "That I'm sorry. I'm sorry I looked in your file, Miss Jade."

Rey blinked. She was surprised. She looked away, not sure what to make of this. Did I get Punk'd? She wondered dully. She could feel his eyes burning a hole in her. She looked back at him. A small smile tugged on the corners of her mouth.

"I forgive you."

One of the three three-word phrases that could change everything that started with "I" and ended with "you."

For the first time, she saw him smile. It made her smile a little more openly.


	4. In the Den of Snakes

"Why did you lie?" Ben asked towards the end of their third research session.

"About what?" Rey asked, keeping her face guarded.

"About never knowing your parents," he said.

"I don't, really," she said. She thought for a minute. "Mum's gone so often, and my dad's been out of the picture since who-knows-when, so technically that wasn't a lie."

She leaned down to scribble down some more about the trail of the Elder Wand.

"Why do you suddenly want to know so much about me anyway?" She asked.

"Weren't you the one who said that I didn't know who you really were even though I thought I did?" He asked, confused. "I just wanted to know who you really were."

"Why do you care?" She scoffed.

He looked down. "We're working together on a project. Isn't it a good idea that we know a little bit about each other?"

"Not as much as you want to," she muttered.

A group of Slytherins with their hoods pulled up approached the table.

"Kylo, we need you," Hux Weasley (a cousin that was the family disappointment) said.

"Fine," Ben said as he stood. He looked over at Rey. "Can you finish the Elder Wand timeline?"

Rey nodded, and he just walked off with his friends. She quietly fumed as soon as he was gone.

* * *

"How dare he?" Poe and Finn chorused, repeating Rey's last sentence.

"Just leaves me to go hang out with his friends when I've been busy for the last half hour doing his dirty work!" She ranted, pacing a hole in one of the carpets in the common room.

"Maybe you ought to drop it by the Slytherin common room," Poe suggested.

Finn and Rey stared at him as if he were insane.

"I'm brave, not suicidal, Poe," she snapped.

"Don't take it out on me!" Poe cried, holding his hands up in surrender. "Go take it out on Solo!"

"I wouldn't even know where to find the Slytherin common room," Rey continued. "Besides, I finished up the Elder Wand timeline."

"Why don't you tell him to do all of something else?" Finn suggested.

"The Stone! It seemed to have no trail!" Poe realized. "Make him look at the Stone!"

"Problem is that he's a Deathly Hallows fanatic," Rey said as she turned to begin another round of pacing. "Perhaps I could dump some of my homework on him? I just don't want to seem incompetent! He already has plenty to shoot at!"

Her cheeks went red at the thought of him knowing about her deadbeat mom and even more deadbeat dad. She hadn't even told Poe and Finn about her mom! She then sighed and slung her backpack onto her shoulders.

"You inherit everything if I die," she said, and she began her quest to the Slytherin common rooms.

"Try the dungeons!" Finn called after her. Rey nodded and then started down the stairs.

* * *

In the green light of the dungeons, Rey had gotten lost all too easily. She wasn't even sure what the way out was, until she saw some Slytherins walk through a wall. She looked to make sure the coast was clear. She wasn't sure that this was a good idea- what if she lost her homework completely due to this- but she had to do it. She'd made up her mind. Ben Solo would put in his share, or she'd personally plan his demise.

But how to get it to him, though?

She started to creep forward and knelt to take off her backpack. She began digging through her backpack. She took out her timeline paper (because if it got stolen, too bad, he'd have to do it, not her) and set it down in front of the wall. She then closed up her backpack and looked back to realize that there were shoes and an open door in front of the paper.

A sense of dread crawled up Rey's neck. Her hands shook, as they did when she was nervous or afraid, and she was frozen. Her face flushed pink. Slowly, she gathered the courage to look up to see Ben Solo staring at her.

Behind him was Hux Weasley and a blonde with short hair.

"What's the Gryffindor doing down here?" Weasley asked, his voice dripping with contempt.

 _Stand firm._

Rey jumped, having heard the voice again. What did it possibly have to do with her? Heart pounding, her eyes pleaded at Ben to do something, to just let this one go. Forever seemed to pass.

"She's my guest," Ben finally said, and he offered her a hand up. Rey grabbed her backpack and paper and took his hand. To her surprise, he tugged her along into the common room. Rey never thought she'd ever see the snakes' nest. Cool, green, luxurious, it was more than she ever could've imagined. She'd had a lifetime of red and the city, but had rarely seen so much green. To be honest, it was her favorite color due to being such a rarity. Some of the Slytherins stared at her in a way that made her uncomfortable, but one look from Ben shut them up.

He sat her down in front of a dark maple table in the corner that still remained close to the blazing fire. Her shaking hands set down the paper and began fumbling with the hem of her sweater and tugged down her white button-down and fiddled with her tie to keep them busy.

"Did you finish the timeline?" He asked as he scooped up the parchment.

"Yes," Rey practically spat. She looked around. She felt like a mouse surrounded by, well, snakes. Every second she expected someone to try to hex her or something, but for some reason they avoided even looking at her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help," he said quietly.

"I still did all the work, Solo!" She shouted. Everyone looked in her direction with fear. The last time anyone had called him 'Solo' instead of 'Kylo' made them all shudder. He flinched at the name.

"Call me Ben," he said quietly.

"Fine, but I'm still mad at you, Ben," she seethed.

"I know you are, and I'd make it up to you if you just listened for a moment," he said, drawing on his very small reserve of patience. Attention was now on the couple. Money began discreetly passing hands as bets were taken on how long before they'd have to redecorate to hide another temper tantrum.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm impatient after doing all of the work for a project that we were supposed to be doing together! You can do the rest of it for all I care!" She shouted. Ben's hands tightened around the table. The tension grew at possibly the thickest recorded tension of all time in the common room.

"You're right, I did you wrong," he said, visibly calming down. "What if I took you out to the Three Broomsticks to make up for it, the whole tab on me. I'll help a lot more, I promise."

Rey bit her lip and considered.

"Fine, if you help," she finally said.

He smiled, and everyone in Slytherin common room's jaw dropped, except for Albus Potter. He smirked as everyone started paying him tons of Galleons. No one had thought that he'd be right about no temper tantrum this time. They were amazed.

A smile tugged at Rey's lips, but she swallowed it back.

"Well, thank you for being responsible," she said, and she stood. "Keep the paper."

"I will," he promised. His face fell in disappointment that she hadn't smiled back. He started to escort her out of the common room. When the wall closed behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pinned her against the wall.

"You can't come back down here," he said. Rey hated being so short at the moment. She try to wrestle out of it, but unfortunately she was too small. His hands engulfed her shoulders.

"Don't worry, I won't," she snapped.

"I mean it, Rey, don't come down here," he said, his eyes widening. "There's trouble coming to Hogwarts, and the dungeons aren't safe anymore."

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "Why did you call me 'Rey?'"

His face softened. "It's your name, isn't it? Just promise me you won't go down to the dungeons except for Potions."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Rey, I'm begging you," he continued.

"That's the magic word," she replied patronizingly. "Of course I'll stay out of the dungeons. I promise."

"Thank you," he said, looking relieved. He then walked away, back into the common room, leaving Rey to stare after him. What the heck had just happened?


	5. Letters from Home

The next morning, owls came with the post. Poe, as promised after they negotiated in the promise room, immediately handed Rey the cakes from home as payment for her giving him her notes this semester. To her surprise, a letter from one of the school owls dropped onto her lap. Rey glanced up, then down at the letter. She gasped. It was addressed to her, in her mother's handwriting.

"What's wrong?" Finn asked, leaning to see it. His eyes widened. "Your mom never writes."

"I know," Rey said quietly. Her trembling hands ripped open the envelope impatiently, sending paper shreds everywhere. She finally pulled out the letter, written in hasty but pretty handwriting (from her mother's classier days) and started reading.

 _Dear Rey,_

 _I miss you, as always. I'm on a run again (not anywhere that you need to know about). This time, though, it was for magical items. While I chatted up some of the wizards I was dealing with, I happened to overhear some serious things._

 _While I do have a 'what happens in negotiations stays in negotiations' policy, the policy goes out the window when I hear something that could threaten my little girl. You've always been a survivor, my little Rey. You've never needed anyone in your life. I've tried to prepare you the best for life, but even you couldn't survive what's coming._

 _I can't tell you in case this letter gets intercepted, (I'd be in deep enough as it is) but here's the gist. Trouble is coming to Hogwarts. Big time trouble. Like in the days of Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter. I know you think I don't know anything about the wizarding world, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't question this._

 _Stay away from the Slytherins. Promise me you will. When it hits the fan, I swear you'll thank me later. At the end of the Christmas holiday, I'm taking you out of Hogwarts and shipping you off to Durmstrang. It's for the best, and I know a contact that can fake your parentage so you can get in._

 _Until then, be careful._

 _Love,_

 _Mom_

Rey frowned. First Ben, now her mom. What had happened?

"That's funny," she said.

"What's funny?" Finn asked.

"When I went down to the Slytherin common room, Ben warned me to stay away from the dungeons," Rey explained. "Mom now wants to take me out of Hogwarts and ship me off to Durmstrang."

Poe did a spit-take. " _Durmstrang_!?"

Rey nodded.

"Rey, they don't accept muggle-borne," Poe protested. "Doesn't your mom know that?"

"She said that she'd get someone to fake my parentage," Rey said in shock.

"That exists?" Finn raised his eyebrows.

"Apparently." Rey shrugged as she set down the letter. "But I'm not going."

"Damn right. I'll write my mom and dad and see if they can have you over again. After all, they just ask for a signature to get you to the platform, right?" Poe asked.

Rey nodded and bit her lip.

"And we wouldn't get to play Quidditch with you anymore," Finn added. "How woul Gryffindor win without its daring seeker?"

"Hey!" Poe cried, pretending to be hurt by the lack of faith in his Chasing ability. "We're the Terrible Two, the Chaser pair that the Slytherins fear."

Finn and Rey both snorted in sync.

"I just find it strange," Rey finally said. "What's going on at Hogwarts?"

"I don't know," Finn finally said. "I'll ask my dad, he's always in the know."

"Isn't your dad on a business trip with no contacts right now?" Rey asked.

Finn waved his hand aside like the question was a pesky fly. "I'll figure out a way. You figure out ways to send your mom stuff, right?"

"Touché," Rey said quietly and she stabbed at her porridge with the spoon. That was the big thing that brought the two of them together in the first year- classy parents that were absolute deadbeats always working in underground deals. In fact, they often speculated that their parents might have dealt with each other a time or two.

"We'll need to investigate," Poe said.

"Which means," Finn continued.

"Going in the dungeon," Rey finished.

"Which we're not supposed to do!" They chorused, and they broke out into laughter with no idea to what lay ahead.


	6. Theories of the Force

"Today, we'll be checking your progress," Professor Jinn declared. "It'll help me assess how to continue this project. We'll make individualized plans for each group and work from there. Understood?"

Rey nodded from her spot at the desk. Ben quietly pulled out the three-foot scroll on their project. The two of them sat in silence as Professor Jinn started to hover around. Rey glanced around, then pulled the letter from her mom out of her pocket. She ran her calloused fingers over the elegant script of her mother. God, she missed her.

"Is that from your mother?" He asked.

"Hey!" She swatted him. "Stop peeping at my papers."

"As you wish, milady," he said with a mischievous look playing at the corner of his lips.

Rey folded the paper up hastily and shoved it in the pocket of her robes.

"Why do you keep it with you?" He asked.

Rey froze and hesitated. "It's just that my mother never writes. Anything from her is precious."

"Must be difficult, never really knowing your mother," he said quietly.

"It can be," Rey said vaguely. "She does the best she can. You're lucky, you know, to have the parents you do."

"No, I-"

"You don't get it, do you?" She said. "I'd do anything to have a real family to come home to at the end of the day. To have one like yours."

He looked down at his hands. "I know."

"Know what?" She demanded.

"That I'm lucky." The words were almost a whisper.

"What?" Rey almost fell out of her chair.

"I admitted that you were right, okay?" He snapped.

The room went silent and heads turned. Ben Solo had admitted that muggle-born Rey Jade was right about something and he was wrong? It was like the world had flipped over. Professor Jinn floated over, business as usual.

"Hello Rey," he said. "Mr. Solo. Show me what you've gotten."

Ben pushed the parchment over to Professor Jinn. The ghost read with a certain pleasure that he did with everything Rey was involved with. He looked up at the duo.

"Very good," he declared. "I think you could round this out with the way the objects tie into the Force."

"Professor Jinn, with all due respect, the Force is just a legend," Rey protested. "It's an interesting theory, academically, but there has been no proof that some sort of cosmic magic is where we come from, outlines our destiny, and is what allows certain humans to be witches and wizards. That doesn't work."

"Serious and pragmatic as always, Miss Jade," Professor Jinn said. "Much like Mr. Kenobi. Mr. Solo, would you like to counter this?"

"Absolutely," he said, looking intensely into Rey's eyes. "I would argue that there is such a thing as fate, prophecies, and that they do come from some cosmic force. And what would better explain why some humans are able to use magic and some aren't? Have you heard of the midichlorian research they're doing in the Department of Mysteries?"

"That's as stupid as that nutter, Arthur Merriman in the muggle world, that thinks that the world was created by a dragon named Godith," Rey replied. "It has no sound basis in science whatsoever."

"Magic is beyond the laws of science, Rey," Ben said.

"Why'd you call me that?" She demanded.

"Call you what?"

"My first name!"

"I thought we were on a first-name basis." Ben looked slightly hurt.

Rey had realized as an after-shock that he'd been asking to call her Rey when he requested that she call him Ben. How could she be so stupid to miss the sign. She opened her mouth to fire out about lack of permission when the mental playback occurred. She realized that she really liked how he said her name.

"I guess that's alright," she said decidedly. "Sorry, Processor Jinn. Please go on, Ben."

"Thank you," he said. Something in her throat caught at those little words. Who knew they could pierce the mighty Rey Jade's armor. "Magic is about defying gravity, the way the world is supposed to work. Yes, there are rules, as there are to the cosmic force, but none apply to scientific law."

"Nicely explained, Ben," Jinn agreed. "Twenty points to Slytherin."

Ben smirked at some of the angry Gryffindors. Rey just rolled her eyes and allowed a smile onto her face. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to be amused by his antics.

"Good work, both of you," Professor Jinn continued. "Thank you for making me not regret pairing you together."

"Of course, Professor Jinn," Rey said with a causal swat of the hand.

"Honestly, sir, what did you think was going to happen?" Ben asked with a smile. Rey's jaw dropped at a smile, everyone else stared at them. They'd been taking bets, like the Slytherin common room, on how fast Ben would get in a temper tantrum and Rey would fight him and utterly destroy the Magical Theory classroom.

Professor Jinn just smiled. "Don't disappoint me."

Poe and Finn scooted next to Rey.

"Did he cast the Imperius Curse on you?" Poe asked.

"Rey, do you remember the really stupid incident at Poe's house?" Finn asked.

"The one that we'd sworn that we'd never speak of that included Poe stripping, a bowl of noodles, that expensive baseball bat from Finn's dad and me trying on my mom's black leather jumpsuit?" Rey asked.

Ben, who was in close enough proximity to overhear this, frowned.

"Yep, it's her," the boys chorused as the trio grew red in the face.

"What in in-"

The bell rang, and everyone burst out of their seats. Rey and the boys had a mishap with the stairs that would prove to be life-changing. They were a few minutes late when they finally stumbled down the stairs into the dungeons.

"Professor Slughorn won't mind us being late, will he?" Finn asked.

Rey stopped ahead of the boys. "I think we've got more to worry about than being late."

"What's wrong with-" Poe gasped as Finn clung to him.

Right in front of them was a glassy-eyed Anakin Solo.


	7. Neema Sunrider

Professor Slughorn stepped out from his room upon hearing the trio.

"You're late to class, do you want to-"

He stared at Anakin Solo's body. His gooseberry eyes slowly moved up to the trio of Gryffindors.

"We swear, we just-"

"Mr. Solo! Miss Solo!" Slughorn called out. "You'd better get a look at this!"

The twins ran out and stopped at the doorway. They gasped in sync.

"Ani!" Jaina cried, and she dived to her knees to cradle her brother. Jacen whipped out his wand and stormed up to the trio.

"What did you do to my brother?" He demanded.

"Nothing, we were late and we found them there," Poe stammered.

"What could've hurt him?" Finn asked.

"Stand firm-" Rey covered her mouth. She'd blurted out the words of the voice. Slughorn frowned.

"I'm going to get Headmaster Skywalker," he said. "Just wait for a moment."

Slughorn moved quickly, at a speed that was speculated to be the fastest he'd ever moved in his life. Unfortunately, this left a very angry Jacen and Jaina with the trio standing over the body of their fallen brother.

"He's not dead," Rey assured them, moving with a gut feeling she had about the youngest Solo.

"We know," the twins chorused.

"Then why'd you accuse us?" Poe demanded.

"We don't know that you wouldn't do it," Jacen said.

"We're fellow Gryffindors," Finn said. "We'd never do that."

"I'm not a Gryffindor, and Anakin was a Hufflepuff," Jacen said stonily. Finn recoiled when he saw the blue and bronze of the Ravenclaw crest on Jacen's robes. "I know plenty of Gryffindors who would like to hurt Hufflepuffs."

"Well, I wouldn't," Rey huffed. "I wouldn't hurt anybody unless they hurt me first or I thought they were go to hurt me."

"We'll see," Jaina said cryptically. She stared down the girl who she had regarded as an acquaintance she was sorry for, having to deal with Ben. Jaina didn't know what to think of Rey at this point. There were footsteps, and a man with dark hair and dark green eyes came down in his starry cloak. He knelt down beside Anakin and started checking for pulses and breathing, and casted basic tracing spells.

"Kyp Durron, Head Investigator for the Aurors," the man declared when he stood up. He glanced over at Jaina, smiled as if relieved, and looked back to Poe, Finn, and Rey. "Also a friend of the Skywalker-Solos. If I hear that you hurt Anakin, then pray for your lives."

"Will do," Poe blurted out before Finn and Rey could stop him.

"Luckily, Anakin Solo isn't dead, he's petrified," Durron said. "As for you three, I need to take you up to Lu- I mean, Headmaster Skywalker's Office."

He conjured up a stretcher for Anakin Solo, and the twins followed the trio and Durron to the Headmaster's study. Inside, Ben, a red-haired boy, Minister Skywalker-Solo, and Professor Solo were waiting. Ben looked very pale at the sight of his petrified brother. Headmaster Skywalker sat calmly at his desk, one black gloved hand entwined with his regular hand.

"I understand you found my nephew petrified outside of Slughorn's dungeon?" The headmaster asked as he rose.

"We didn't do it, we were just late to class, and we just found him there!" Finn cried. "Sir, we would never harm your nephew!"

"I don't know if that would be entirely true during Quidditch Season, seeing as he's a damned good Seeker," Poe muttered before Rey kicked him.

"It's alright, I believe you," Luke said. His eyes scanned over them, but the blue locked onto Rey. "Do you know anything that can help us? Is anything wrong?"

Rey parted her lips to speak, not sure whether she should tell him of the mysterious warnings or the voice telling her to stand firm. Or the hissing she'd been hearing randomly. When she started to talk, that was when someone landed in the office.

A woman with flowing red hair in a black leather jumpsuit let go of a Portkey and ran over to the red haired boy.

"Obi!" She cried. "I'm glad you're okay!"

Rey's jaw dropped. "Mom?"

"No," two voices chorused. One voice spoke with disgust, the other with love.

Rey turned to see her mother in her brown vest and white mens' shirt, red-gold curls tied back in a frizzy ponytail. She walked over to her daughter and hugged her.

"It's been a long time," she said softly, hazel eyes regarding her daughter with a softness. "I'm sorry I had to be gone so long and lie."

"Lie?" Rey raised her eyebrows. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I never told you who you really were, who I really was," her mother admitted. "My name is not Callista Jade. It's Neema Sunrider."

"I'm a Sunrider?" Rey's eyes widened. She'd heard of the pureblood family for ages, especially with the powerful Nomi Sunrider of the Scottish Druids.

"There's more you should know," Neema continued. "It won't be easy for you to hear."

Rey's wide eyes stayed trained on the ones that she'd inherited from her mother.

"Your father was called Jinn Kenobi," she said. "The son of the legendary Aurors, Ben Kenobi and Siri Tachi."

"What?" Rey's jaw dropped. So she was a pureblood all along? "Why are you telling me now?"

"Because of the damn prophecy," the wife of Luke said. She sashayed forwards. "Sorry if I sound mad at you, kid. I'm Mara Jade-Skywalker, and I don't like it when people try to steal my identity." She glared pointedly at Neema, who glared right back.

"A prophecy?" The trio chorused. Ben shifted position, looking interested.

"Yes," Neema answered. Mara crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are you sure this is the time to tell her?" Mara asked.

"Yes," Neema repeated.

"Be careful, Miss Sunrider," Headmaster Skywalker warned. "How are you showing her the prophecy?"

Neema unbuckled her satchel and pulled out a wooden box with the designs of the Druids carved into it. Rey hesitated before she took it into her hands. She felt the vine wood hesitantly, not sure what to think of it.

"I've been waiting for a long time to give this to you," Neema explained, eyes still on the box. They flicked up to Rey's. "It is your choice. I'll respect it either way."

Rey nodded, and looked down to the box. She lifted the latch and opened the lid to see a blue glass orb with smoke writhing around inside it. She picked up the box and shook it. She held it close to her ear, hearing whispering from the orb. She held it in front of her, and that's when it felt like the floor had come out from under her.

The shape of Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared to her.

 _"There will come a time when the Sky Walker becomes solo._

 _He will gain strength through sacrifice_

 _He will punish those who deny justice_

 _He will immortalize his love._

 _From the friend of the Chosen the Sun Rider arises._

 _She will choose the fate of the weak_

 _She will choose how she is loved_

 _Her life will be a balance between peace and conflict_

 _The Sky Walker will become Solo_

 _The Sun Rider will rise_

 _They will remake themselves."_

Rey saw snow in front of her and felt the chill of wind. She rubbed her arms, saw visions dance around her. A dark man that felt familiar walking towards her, a sword inlaid with rubies, a snake, a white, earless, noseless cat, and the image of her father.

Rey fell backwards as she returned to reality. Finn offered her a hand up, but she rejected it. She crawled backwards.

"No," she said, having difficulty swallowing. "No, that can't be true. That's impossible!"

She got to her feet and slammed the headmaster's door behind her and took off to the woods.


	8. The Forbidden Forest

Rey ran into the Forbidden Forest. The words of the prophecy recited by her grandfather echoed in her ears with every step. The visions of the sword, the man, the cat, the snake, and her father kept appearing in her head no matter how hard she tried to drive him and the other visions out. She just wanted to hide, from her lying mother, whatever had attacked Anakin Solo, Ben, and her own destiny.

She'd fought destiny as best she could the moment she set foot in Hogwarts. To her, the fact that muggles could have children with the gift was amazing and fate-defying. Despite everyone trying to bring her down, she tried her hardest. Professors had always given her a strange look if she was right (that was, except for Professor Jinn and Professor Solo), the Slytherins would always dismiss her as a mudblood, the others would taunt her with her street rat childhood, the fact that she had difficulty reading due to never being in school much. She'd tried her hardest to be the best, to defy destiny. Now there was some prophecy about her, the Sun Rider.

She finally clung to a tree and sat down to contemplate what now. She couldn't go back. It was too much to stay at Hogwarts. Maybe there was another school she could get into? Maybe Durmstrang was the best route, after all. She sighed. She'd been so against it, but now that her friends knew as well, they'd expect more out of her. She didn't want expectations. She wanted people to just respect her for her.

Suddenly, there were footsteps. Rey got to her feet in record time and looked around. Where was the sound coming from? She couldn't see anyone. She drew her wand with trembling hands.

"Who are you?" She asked. "Tell me!"

The footsteps came closer and closer. Rey stepped away from the tree and started to look around. She backed towards the rock passage. She heard more footsteps, and turned to see at first nothing, then saw Ben shimmer into existence.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"I was looking for you," he said simply. "Your mother's worried."

"Like you care," Rey sneered.

"Actually, I do," he replied, stepping closer. "I care about you very much."

She could feel her heart throbbing in her chest so hard it almost hurt. What could that possibly mean? He cared about her? Why would he, when they'd been mortal enemies since first year? She backed away and shook her head.

He quickly closed the gap, taking her hands into his. "Don't be afraid, I feel it too."

"Feel what?" She asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Surely you can figure it out, a smart girl like you," he said with a bit of the Solo smirk on his face. She jerked her hands out of his grasp and stepped back even further.

"Am I only smart to you now because I'm a pureblood?" She asked. "I remember when you used to taunt me about how I had trouble reading, how I was a stupid street rat mudblood who would never amount to anything!"

Regret showed on his face.

"I only called you any of that because I was jealous," he admitted.

"What is there to be jealous of?" She asked, stepping back more. She was surprised to see that he was not trying to close the gap again.

"Surely you don't think that, Rey," he said. "You've got many qualities worth admiration and jealousy."

"Like what?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"For one, you've got raw magical power," he said as he took a step. "For two, you figure things out quick. For what you lack in academic skills you make up for in investigation and curiosity. For three, you've got a strength that matches your beauty. Surely you've noticed?"

Once again, there was very little distance between the two.

"You think I'm beautiful?" Her voice was very soft, very delicate.

"Of course I do," he said as he reached a hand out to brush against her face. "Don't you see it?"

"I'm not that vain, so no," she said. "I'm not really much to look at."

"It's all a matter of opinion," he said with a shrug. "A lot of girls call me ugly."

"Not in Gryffindor they don't," she muttered.

"Though to be honest, you have a much more attractive personality," he continued, oblivious to her little statement.

"Wait, what?" She stood her ground though.

He paused, as if to catch himself. "Doesn't matter. But can you come back to the castle with me?"

"I'm never going back," she declared. "I'll go to Durmstrang, like Mother wanted after she heard that trouble was coming to Hogwarts."

"Where would she hear something like that?" He asked, shocked.

"From one of her business partners," she admitted. She then looked at him with suspiciously. "You warned me, too. Do you know something about what happened to your brother?"

"No," he said quickly.

"Well, let's go back to the castle, since you obviously know the way," Rey said quickly. He stared at her in an odd way, then began to lead her back. She was anxious to spend as little time as possible with him now that she had her suspicions. If her instincts were serving her right, he knew the truth about what happened to Anakin Solo, and was somewhat behind it.

Yet she had to admit that she was feeling a pull to him. The way he talked to her, she felt like she was seeing a new piece of the boy she wanted to fight with. If he cared the way she thought he did- well, she'd always wanted to be loved.


	9. Dungeon Expedition

"You okay, Rey?" Finn asked as he looked over to her. She was currently attempting her part of the project on the argument for the Deathly Hallows channeling light magic while Ben was supposed to be doing the one for dark magic.

"I'm fine," she lied through gritted teeth.

"No, you're not," Poe said, leaning on the table.

"Tell us what's wrong," Finn said. "We want to help you. You're our best friend."

"It's just-" Rey glanced up. "I wish you wouldn't look at me like that."

"Huh?" Poe stared at Finn for a moment, then looked back to Rey.

"I mean, I'm still the same Rey," she continued. "You keep staring like I'm some sort of goddess due to their being a prophecy about me!"

"I was _happy_ for you, and I still see you as Rey," he explained angrily. "I don't know what your problem is!"

"My problem?" Rey stood up, as did Finn. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have one!" Finn protested. "I know you're stressed, but you need to calm down. You're seeing things that aren't there!"

"Really?" She countered. "Because I know what I see, Finn!"

"Hey, Rey, maybe you should-"

"Don't you dare tell me how to feel, Dameron!"

Poe stumbled backwards, taken aback. Whenever Rey used last names, it was never a good thing.

"Rey, what-"

"I know what's up with you, Calrissian!" Rey jabbed her finger into the air. "You-"

Poe and Finn immediately started hugging her, which stopped her mid-yell and utterly baffled her. She then started hugging them back.

"Sorry, I've just been really stressed out lately," Rey apologized.

"It's alright, we forgive you," Finn said. "We've all cracked."

"Thank you, you guys really are great friends," Rey said.

"Well, you put up with us for this long," Poe joked. "Come on, let's sit down and talk about the Anakin Solo thing."

Everyone had freaked out at Hogwarts, especially when the parents got ahold of the information. Despite the fact that Harry Potter had killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets years and years ago, it appeared history had repeated itself. Unfortunately, Potter and Weasley had long forgotten Parseltongue, and no one knew how else to get into the Chamber of Secrets. Turns out, the piping could not be entered without the charms.

"We've got to figure out who's doing it," Rey said. "The Aurors are just trying to get into the Chamber itself. But if we find the culprit, the giant snake won't attack us anymore."

"Maybe they're trying that already," Finn suggested.

"They probably are," Rey acknowledged. "But if we can speed things along, well then all the power to us."

"True," Poe admitted.

"Ben warned me about the-"

"BEN?!" The boys chorused in horror.

"He wanted to be on a first-name basis," Rey said with a shrug.

"Ben Solo?" Finn asked, raising his eyebrows. "The same one that you hated two weeks ago?"

Rey shrugged again. "He's not all bad." Then her expression darkened. "But believe me, there's still some. I believe that he knows something about what's going on. He told me to stay out of the dungeons, and my mom said that the Slytherins were going to cause trouble."

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Poe asked.

"We're exploring the dungeons," Rey announced.

Finn frowned. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"You're right, it doesn't, but do you have any better ones?" Rey arched an eyebrow.

"Good point," Finn acknowledged.

"We go tonight," she said in hushed tones.

"Agreed," the boys chorused.

* * *

Moonlight glowed through the windows as the trio quietly snuck out. They grabbed Finn's extra torches, and BeeBee, Poe's eighth cat, trailed behind them. Rey nodded, and they started out of the common room. Poe had his familiar scout out the path ahead, looking for Mrs. Norris in particular. They also had to beware prefects and any teachers that decided to patrol the hallways.

Finally, they entered the dungeons. Rey remembered some of the place from when she got lost looking for the Slytherin common room. They kept descending the slightly slimy stairwells, until they were in a set that was freezing and had water up to their ankles from some leak that had come from time from the lake.

They were about to give up when they heard voices. They walked towards the sound of the voices only to find an empty room. It looked to be hastily abandoned, with a candle still flickering. In the room were several boxes and beat-up furniture. There was a second exit, but none of them dared take it.

"Look around, see if you can find any proof as to who," Poe ordered. The others nodded. Rey felt drawn to a wooden box with similar carvings as the one with the prophecy that her mother had given her. She slowly lifted the latch and saw a sword. Finn opened another long box, and there was a sword in that one as well.

Rey picked up hers. On the blade was the carving of the name 'Sunrider.' She swung it gently in the air, admiring the movement, and how _right_ it felt. The hand guard resembled a griffin's claws, and there were several places where emeralds were inlaid in the handle. It had a feminine edge to it. Again, it just felt _right_ to her.

Finn picked up the other sword apprehensively. It was a sword that had a cross guard and had the name "Ren" scratched into the ancient metal. Compared to the Sunrider blade, the sword Finn had was ancient. There was an awful energy he could feel associated with the sword. He hastily dropped it in the box. There were then footsteps and the candle blew out.

Rey lifted the sword hesitantly, although she doubted it would do much against a wizard. There were footsteps, then silence. The three Gryffindors felt like their hearts were going to explode out of their chests. The footsteps picked up again, but became quieter and quieter. Once they were sure the intruder was gone, they all let out a sigh of relief.

Rey picked up the sheath lying inside the sword.

"What are you doing?" Poe asked.

"It's mine, I can feel it," Rey said determinedly as fastened the belt around her waist. "Besides, it says Sunrider on the belt. It's my inheritance."

"Be careful," Finn urged. "We don't want them to know that we were here."

"If they were trying to steal my inheritance, they can come at me one at a time, or all at once, I won't care, I don't give a damn," she said fiercely as she slid the sword into the sheath and closed the box. "No one's stealing my family things."

Poe and Finn exchanged a glance and shrugged. They'd had family heirlooms (in Finn's case, it was his father's awesome cloak). They'd never realized until then how much family truly did mean to Rey.

They started back up to the surface when they heard the footsteps. They heard a hissing and spluttering noise and turned. A figure in a mask was holding the "Ren" sword. It was _glowing red_ from within the blade. The glow was fizzing and sparking and seemed extremely unstable.

"Run," Rey hissed.

"What about you?" Finn asked.

"I've got a sword," she reminded them. Poe nodded, and started ushering Finn out as she grabbed her sword out. She backed up slowly as her friends ran up the stairs as fast as they could manage. The figure in the mask stepped closer hesitantly. With a spike of dread in her stomach, Rey realized that the figure was the same as in her vision.

"I'm not afraid of you," she hissed, and she backed up one more step. He swung. She clumsily blocked and backed up on the stairs quickly. What was she thinking? She couldn't do this! She slipped on the slime on the floor. Her blade clashed with the figure's in strokes that barely hit it and felt cheap. She had bought enough time to get to her feet and run with a well-timed kick to the private parts. She'd had a good feeling that her attacker was male, and it had payed off well.

She took the opportunity to run like hell. She finally met up with the boys in the common room.

They shared a wordless look and agreed not to do that again.


	10. Date at Three Broomsticks

"Isn't tomorrow the first Hogsmeade weekend?" Poe asked.

"Yeah, why?" Finn asked.

"That means I have that date with Ben as an apology for sticking me with all the work on the Elder Wand," Rey said airily.

"Wait a minute, that means you might be close enough. . ." Poe and Finn exchanged a glance.

"What?" Rey asked somewhat obliviously. The boys grinned wickedly at her. "Do you want me to flirt with him for information?"

"Didn't he try to flirt with you a while back?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, and I turned him down," Rey said as she refused the urge to turn bright red. She remembered what he had said to her the day before with how she was beautiful and smart. Did he have a soft side for her? Or was he just trying to get her out of the forest? She had a feeling it was the former, but she'd secretly been waiting for this to make sure.

"If he has a thing for you, maybe you can use it to get some more information," Poe suggested.

"I just don't know what I'd use to, um, spice things up," Rey admitted as she twirled a strand of her dark hair. She wore raggedy clothes in her free time, and she didn't know half of the torture devices some of the girls in the dorms used.

"You're pretty just the way you are," Finn said brightly, earning a longing look from Poe.

"Just drop the news to your roommates," Poe suggested. "They've had crushes on Solo forever. They'll want a lot of details, but they might be able to help."

"Alright then," Rey said with a shrug. She got up to go to the library again.

"Maybe we should go to the restaurant together, too," Poe suggested.

"Yeah, to keep an eye on her," Finn said.

"Sure," Poe said half-heartedly.

* * *

The next morning, the Gryffindor girls were working on their outfits. As casually as she could, Rey walked up to Natalie Redding.

"I need some help," she confessed quietly. "I'm going on a date with Ben Solo-"

The entire dorm went silent, and everyone turned to stare at her.

"What?" Rey complained, unable to help it. She wasn't used to everyone watching her.

" _You_ got a date with _Ben Solo_?" Sonja Witherspoon demanded.

Rey nodded. Twitters of gossip began going between the girls.

"Well of course you need help!" Natalie declared. "We're going to help make you a Rey 2.0." Her eyes took the scavenging street rat in. "It won't be easy, but I bet if we pool our resources, we can make it happen."

Rey resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sat down. What followed was an eternity of her hair getting tugged at with a brush, wearing the clothes of her roommates- Sonja's red dress with a black tank top underneath, and the red and black ripped-up leggings of Natalie's. She tugged at them, being a little long for her. Her hair was around her shoulders in waves, and she wore her own genuinely distressed jean jacket and combat boots. Blush had been applied to conceal her freckles, as well as golden eyeshadow that brought out her hazel eyes. A little bit of red lip gloss had been applied.

She was near unrecognizable. She took a deep breath and stood up as her roommates admired their handiwork. She grabbed her beat-up satchel that carried everything of importance to her.

* * *

Ben Solo sat at the small booth. He briefly checked the classy watch his mother had gotten him for his last birthday. He'd forgotten to specify a time, and he had a feeling it would come to bite him in the butt. Still, he didn't dare leave for fear of pissing her off.

A girl had just entered the room in a jean jacket with cherry-red lips and wavy dark hair. Ben briefly contemplated that Rey would look nice with her hair styled like that. What surprised him was when the girl started walking towards him. It was only when she was a few feet away that he could see past the makeup.

"Rey?"

She smiled coyly (?) as she sat down in the opposite to the booth and leaned over the table. Ben, on reflex, flattened against the back of the chair. He wasn't prepared for this. Especially as she took off her jacket, showing off nice shoulders (come to think of it, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen Rey's shoulders before)- _Focus, Ben, focus!_

He straightened. "You look nice. I think the jacket really ties it together."

"Oh, this old thing?" She asked as she tugged on a tank top strap. She was definitely putting on a voice. Ben leaned closer, curious about the new Rey.

"Why all the makeup?" He asked.

"You don't like it?" Her face read deflated, but something in her eyes glittered a very different emotion.

"I-I'm just curious, that's all," he said. He remembered the night that Han had sat him, Jacen, and Anakin down (around when Ani was eleven) and had explained some special tips to dealing with women.

" _Never under any circumstances tell a woman that she isn't beautiful without makeup or that her makeup isn't pretty. Neither reactions are entirely pretty."_

Ben knew that Rey would probably stab him dead if he got this wrong. Or curse him into oblivion.

"My roommates said that you'd appreciate this more," she said, rolling her eyes. "Kinda silly, huh?"

"Um..." He stammered. Currently on his shoulders were the stereotypical angel and devil thing. Except one resembled his father, the other being Anakin. In a twist, on top of his head appeared to be his grandfather. All figuratively, of course.

"Tell her that it isn't silly and that she looks great," the one that looked like Han said.

"No, no, and no," Anakin began. "Say that she's prettier without any of this, that you like her just the way she is."

The vision of his grandfather shrugged. "Your grandmother wore a lot of crazy makeup when she was fourteen. Tell her that she's an angel with it on."

"Ben?" Rey looked a little worried. "Anyone home?"

"Oh," he said, groping for words. "You just. . . took my breath away, you're so beautiful."

He exhaled a quick sigh of relief as the imaginary figures of Han, Anakin, and um, the other Anakin cheered.

"It's only because I'm so in love," she giggled.

"No, it's because I'm so in love with-" he stopped. What the hell was he saying? For one, these flirtations were ridiculously cheesy ("Hey, they worked on your grandma," his grandfather's voice protested) and for two, _he just admitted that he was in love with REY_!

"Wait, so you actually love me?" She'd stopped doing the voice, and was sitting straight up. The old Rey was sitting there in front of him. But her eyes were intensely staring him down.

"I don't know for sure, but there's a possibility," he admitted. "I care for you. I have. . . Compassion for you. You draw me in. Not many people are like you."

"Really?" She looked at least interested in what he said, although she deflated a little at his confession that he didn't know his true feelings for her.

"You've got a lot of light," he said. "One of the sweetest people I've ever met."

"Not to you," she admitted, looking down at the table.

"Well, I could've made things easier," he said. "I seem to have inherited some scoundrel tendencies."

"From your father?"

Ben had a mixed reaction. He stiffened but smiled. He hated hearing anything about his father, but she was smiling again.

"Yeah," he said in a tone as casual as he could imagine it.

 **Why her, Kylo?** Ben clenched his fists underneath the table. The voice was back at the worst possible time. He hated the voice. It was always whispering things, telling him things. It was no use fighting the voice. It would make him do whatever it wanted him to do and he wouldn't remember afterwards.

 _Get out of my head, Snoke!_ He'd called the voice this after his cat. His parents had gotten it when he was about a year old. Ever since he could remember, he could hear the voice. His siblings never did, but he always did find the correlation suspicious.

 **You deserve better, a pureblood-**

 _She is,_ Ben corrected. _Of the Sunrider and Kenobi lines._

 **Yet at heart, she is a muggle-**

"Can we order something?" She asked, shivering a little in the sleeveless dress. "A butterbeer, perhaps?"

Instantly, Ben felt bad. He should've noticed, should've guessed- "Sure." It gave him an opportunity to see if he could get Snoke to go away while he courted Rey- _stupid word, Solo, is this really a date?_

He left for the bar.

 _You will not ruin this for me,_ he vowed angrily.

Snoke laughed. **The girl isn't good enough for you! She's just coming into her power. True, she is powerful, but it's raw, unfocused. She doesn't know what to do with it.**

 _Exactly_ , Ben pointed out as he waited for Madam Rosemerta's assistant barmaid to serve up two butterbeers. _Please, let me train her. Let me teach her the Dark Arts. She clearly has feelings of her own for me._

Snoke let out a growl of displeasure. **The girl does not. She's playing with you for information. She doesn't care if you live or die. She just cares of whether or not you can give her enough information as to who's behind the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets.**

Ben's heart began pounding in fear. Did she really not feel the same way? He reluctantly admitted to himself that he had been an ass to her in the past, but he was really trying to make up for it. He'd been foolish enough to believe in the forest that maybe she cared enough about him to come with him.

He took the butterbeers with sweaty palms and walked back to the booth. He saw Rey looking at a male couple in the front of the Three Broomsticks, and then hastily turn back to him.

"Sorry, just saw two of my friends were here, and I decided to say hello," she said brightly. "God, that looks good."

She took the butterbeer and smiled. With that smile, it was almost easy to ignore the growing doubts. Was Snoke right again? He was right about his mother and father being afraid of the things he could do with magic. He was right about Ben being a Slytherin like his grandfather. He was right about the Chamber of Secrets.

"So, it must be difficult, with Anakin and all," she said after she'd taken a few sips of the drink.

He nodded cautiously. He was starting to pray that the conversation wasn't going where he thought it would.

"Are they any closer to figuring out who did it?" She asked.

"No," he said, frowning.

"I hope they catch the guy," she said as she looked down at the butterbeer. "Did you give them your tip?"

His heart started beating faster. It took all his will to keep his poker face. _Dear Merlin, you were right._

 **I always am** , Snoke reminded him triumphantly.

He quickly put on a mask of confusion. "What tip?"

"You told me that I should stay out of the dungeons. You made me promise to," Rey said determinedly.

"I-" Ben was groping for more words. "Why aren't you asking your mum? Didn't you say that she knew about who was behind this?"

Rey frowned. "She just said that the Slytherins were involved. After all, the Chamber of Secrets needs to be opened by the Heir of Slytherin."

"Well, I just hear things around the common room, okay?" He said as he grabbed his jacket.

"What's wrong, why are you leaving?" She asked as he stood up.

"I've got to go," he said lamely, and he ran out without a word. How could he have been stupid enough to ever believe that Rey would care about him?


	11. Return of the Dark Mark

Rey sighed and abandoned the booth to where Poe and Finn were sitting. The first thing she noticed was Poe's hands on top of Finn's, then both boys looking extremely embarrassed. She still slid into a third seat.

"What happened?" Poe asked hastily.

"He left as soon as I started asking," Rey explained.

Poe and Finn exchanged a look.

"Still means that he's behind this," Poe said. Finn frowned.

"What's wrong, Rey? You look like you're about to cry," he said.

"It's nothing," she lied.

"Rey," the boys chorused.

"Just leave it, alright?" She abruptly stood up.

"We don't need to kick his arse for you, do we?" Poe asked.

"If Solo hurt you," Finn began with a dark expression.

"He didn't, I promise," Rey said. "I've gotta go, I really hate this outfit."

With that, she left.

* * *

Saturday morning was the legendary Slytherin v. Gryffindor match. She groaned at her alarm clock and began grabbing her broomstick (smuggled from somewhere by her mother- she didn't ask too many questions) and heading down the stairs in uniform. She sat with the boys, barely able to eat a thing, although she loved food.

"You'll do fine," Poe promised.

"Yeah," Jaina jumped in, in her Beater's uniform. "You're one of the best athletes we have."

Rey nodded, barely aware. "Is your brother playing today?"

Jaina smirked. "I heard about that. Be careful."

"What position does he play again?" Rey asked.

"Beater- Oh." Jaina became quiet. Rey gulped. This was going to go great.

* * *

She circled around overhead on the Quidditch Pitch. The game was getting closer and closer. Despite her previous prediction, Rey'd observed that Ben had not been gunning for her, really. In fact, he seemed to be leaving her well alone.

"And Dameron shoots for Gryffindor! 50-55!"

Rey cheered from her spot. She started looking even harder for the Snitch. Meanwhile, she'd noticed that Poe and Finn had been tense with one another. They weren't working together nearly as well as they were before. Even Captain Antilles had noticed that.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you," he'd said. "But pull it together. You boys have never had problems like this before."

Rey wondered what had happened between them. Ever since the restaurant, they'd been tense with one another. She had promised Antilles that she'd work it out between them as best she could.

That's when her reverie was broken by a spell being fired from the crowd. Rey barely dodged a Stunning Spell and let out a cry of fear. She looked around, but no one seemed to have noticed. She dodged another one that came out of the crowd randomly. She looked down and started moving as fast as she could. Was anyone else seeing what she did?

Another spell barely missed her as she dived down to get away from the curses, but it summoned green clouds in the shape of a skull with a snake tongue. She ignored the yells coming from her teammates to see it in fear.

The symbol of You-Know-Who had returned to the sky. Her heart beat so quickly it hurt. It felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. Oxygen rushed in and out in short breaths as she clutched the broom to her chest in a fit of dizziness. Fire and ice alternated in her veins.

"REY!"

She heard the scream and then felt something barrel into her shoulder. With a snap of pain and a sickening crack, she was thrown off of her broom. She was free-falling and screaming. All she could think about was how she was going to die.

Someone swooped underneath her and caught her on the broom. She opened her eyes to see Ben Solo, pale-faced and concerned about her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"My shoulder," she moaned.

He nodded in response, then began descending in a speed as safe as he dared. They landed on the field and he helped her to Madam Longbottom. Captain Fel of the Slytherin team stopped Ben from following.

"What the hell were you thinking, hitting that Bludger?" Fel demanded.

"I didn't mean to," Ben said, already crying.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry this was short. :)**


	12. The Hospital Wing

Madam Longbottom was very gentle. Her soft hands brushed over Rey's injury and she murmured an apology when Rey winced. She then pulled out her rosewood wand and tapped as lightly possible.

"It'll take an hour to do its work," Longbottom warned. "Just come get me if the pain gets too bad."

Rey watched her disappear into her office, then heard footsteps. She turned her head to see Ben running over to her. He slowed when he was about five feet away and approached her breathlessly.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Rey said, wincing briefly from the pain of the injury repairing itself. She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I thought you wouldn't care. Weren't you the one who hit the Bludger after all?"

He frowned. "You think because the date went wrong I'd hit it on purpose? It was my fault, I needed to leave to take care of something I'd forgotten."

"I know I made you uncomfortable," she admitted.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean what I said," he told her as he took her hands into his. "I meant it when I said I admired how smart and talented you were, I meant it when I said you were as pretty as Padmé Amidala, and I meant it when I said-"

He took a deep breath, having a hard time reliving another one of those three three-word phrases that started with an 'I' and ended with a 'you' that could change everything.

"I've meant every nice thing I've ever said to you, and rarely meant any of the bad," he finished.

"You still hit me with a Bludger," Rey pointed out. She was between acceptance and hatred of her feelings towards him. He seemed pretty sweet to her after the project, and he seemed like he was turning things around from the nasty Slytherin that used to taunt her about her trouble reading.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, it was just a knee-jerk reaction," he explained. "I didn't want it to hit you. I don't want to hurt you."

"I believe you." Her words were soft, heartfelt. She let out another small gasp from pain and he stood there, not knowing quite what to do. He didn't dare hug for fear of hurting her shoulder further.

She took a few deep breaths and looked up at him. She was going to accept this, even with her misgivings. Despite the idea she still had that he might have information on the Chamber of Secrets. Besides, she could use this to find out more information.

She couldn't help but gasp in pain again. He stared at her for a moment before placing one hand on her good shoulder, the other hand hovering over the dislocated/broken one. He awkwardly placed it on her neck. She managed a smile at this.

"You don't need to put on a brave face," he said softly.

"This isn't a brave face," she informed him with a smirk. "It's a happy one."

"I-I just didn't know, with the way Gryffindors act and all-"

"Shut up and kiss me, you fool," she said in a way that made his skin feel electrified. He moved his hand on her neck up to cup her chin as her hand framed his face. Their lips met into a kiss that tasted of snow.

He straightened as Madam Longbottom came out. Instead of walking to them, she broke into a run and flew past them, blond hair flying as she tossed her robes to the ground to reveal more practical muggle garb. She flung open the door and stopped. She then turned around and conjured a mirror into her hand. After scanning carefully, she went out into the hallway, the beds floating after her.

Ben and Rey stood and walked to the door, Rey nursing her shoulder the whole way. They looked to see several petrified bodies out in the corridors, trailing all the way from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. One only had to look up the steps to see something truly terrible. Luke Skywalker was Petrified.


	13. Call to Action

Rey tapped her fingers impatiently against a table in the Gryffindor common room. A distraught Finn looked into the flames. Poe had been one of the victims on the way to the common room, carrying the mirrors everyone had been given out (thank God, or more than five people would've died from the attack of another basilisk) and Finn had gone into a catatonic state.

"I miss him too," she said softly.

"You don't get it," he said hoarsely from tears. "You didn't hear what our fight was about."

"The one that got Captain Antilles all in a twist?" She asked.

"Yeah," Finn confirmed. "He told me in the Three Broomsticks that he loved me. That he wanted to know if I felt the same way. I don't remember exactly what I said. But he got mad, saying I was denying my feelings, everybody could see that I was in love with him. I was too afraid, just like everyone always said."

"Are you?" Rey asked cautiously.

"I wasn't too sure, I was too afraid," Finn confessed. "But now I know. I do. I don't know what I'm going to do without him."

Rey hugged him. "Well, I know what we're going to do about that."

He stared at her, confused. "But Rey, they're evacuating the school tomorrow morning except for the Aurors and staff, and they'll transfer the victims to St. Mungo's, where they have the necessary potion. Time's run out to find out what happened."

"Which is why we need to go tonight," she said, her voice dropping to a dead whisper. "You and me. Down to the dungeon. We'll face the one behind this with no problem."

"But I don't want anything to happen to you," he said.

"Nothing will, not if we put an end to this," Rey promised.

"Let's finish what we started," Finn agreed.

* * *

In the moonlight, Finn had his torch, Rey had her sword. They used one of the portrait passages out of the common room into one of the bathrooms. The entrance was boarded off, but Rey just began using the Screwdriver Charm to pull the screws out. The unfortunate part was how one almost rocketed into Finn's eye.

After a quick apology, they slunk into the shadows. The teachers and Aurors and assorted Hit Wizards were patrolling the corridors every twenty feet. Rey's first thought was the roof. She pointed up at it. He nodded and they both whipped out their wands.

" _Ropa Seda_ ," they chorused, and silk rope shot out of the end of their wands and wrapped around in the gothic ceilings. They climbed up as fast as they could manage, barely avoiding two confused hit wizards. Rey then pulled open a portrait of the sky in the ceiling and got into a passageway. She then pulled Finn up into it. They found three dead ends and finally backtracked to the right portrait right by the staircase leading to the dungeons.

Finn turned his torch on again and they prepared to descend into the fathoms below.


	14. The Sword of Gryffindor

It seemed colder than usual. Rey rubbed her shoulders as she descended. They kept going without a second thought as to where they were going or why. She swore that she could hear more of the footsteps, but never saw a thing. Every nerve was electric, ready to jump at any dancing shadow or misplaced creak.

It was only adrenaline and sheer will that kept the two Gryffindors from bolting and never looking back. The person (or people) behind this had killed people and had turned them to stone. They were in control of a basilsk. Whenever they heard a hissing sound, they whipped out the mirrors.

Finally, they'd found the room, but the shadow of a person in candlelight was obvious. Rey slowly drew her sword. The figure froze at the almost silent sound of the sword sliding from its sheath. She froze herself and waited for a moment. After the figure sighed and resumed activities.

She lifted her mirror instead of her sword. She first caught the flicker of fire, then the figure, searching through some files. Thankfully, no basilisk showed up in the reflection. Then the figure stiffened and drew the strangely glowing sword. Rey quickly stowed away her mirror and raised her sword. The figure stepped out.

As a knee-jerk reaction, Finn shot a Stunning Spell, only resulting in it being absorbed by the sword. He started stepping back to analyze further, while Rey launched herself at him. Their blades collided in an unholy battle of light and dark.

He blocked her swing and pushed her back, causing her to stumble backwards. She gritted her teeth and swung again, only to be blocked again. She tried a quick feint, then actually swung to her left rather than her right the last few times. He barely blocked, then hit again, pushing her further back.

She began to ascend the stairs as Finn shot more spells, only to be effortlessly blocked by the sword. The man chased them up to a level of the dungeons. He and Rey hit at the exact same time, pushing their blades against each other in a match neither wanted to lose.

"Get help!" Rey yelled. "Save yourself, Finn!"

"I'll come back for you," Finn swore, and he took off without a second thought. His heart pounded to his heartbeat, reminding him of a piece of poetry Rey liked to recite. "Step follows step. Hope follows courage. Set your face towards danger, set your heart towards victory."

In order to make this victory happen, he had to run. And he hated himself for it.

* * *

Rey held out as long as she could. The pure force of his strike made her blade snap back and the momentum carried her to the ground. She let go of her sword and it skidded on the cold stone. The figure held the sword inches from her face.

"You won't get away with this," she snarled. She reached to get her wand out of her vest. Before her fingers could brush against the rowan, she heard a deep voice say, "Stupefy," and she felt nothing at all.

* * *

Finn's footsteps immediately alerted the patrols in the Great Hall.

"What are you doing out here?" A woman demanded.

"I-I-"

"Minister Skywalker-Solo demanded to see any kid that tried to sneak out," another said.

"I need help!" Finn interrupted.

"You certainly do," one adult snidely remarked. "Minister hasn't been that easy."

"No, you don't get it," Finn said. "Rey Sunrider's down in the dungeons and got captured by the guy that we think is behind the Chamber of Secrets."

"What?" An elderly woman in white robes took off her hood, revealing her iconic hairstyle.

"Minister Skywalker-Solo," they chorused and bowed their heads in respect for the regal leader.

She ignored them and walked straight to Finn.

"Miss Sunrider is down there?" She asked.

"You know her?" Finn asked.

"I heard as soon as she was confirmed, Mr. Calrissian," Minister Skywalker-Solo confirmed. "I know of her bloodlines as well. Wonderful Aurors in both of her bloodlines, and her parents were no exception."

"We've got to help her," Finn added insistently, his puppy-eyes begging.

"I promise, we will," Skywalker-Solo said. "Come with me."

She led him to her brother's former office, and opened the door with the password. She then ascended the stairs with all the grace of a princess and all of the commanding presence of a general. Finn marveled to be meeting the most beloved Minister of Magic!

Inside the office, Skywalker-Solo went immediately to the Sorting Hat and held it out to Finn.

"I know it doesn't look like much," she acknowledged. "But it has strong ties to the Founders, Gryffindor in particular. My brother always stressed that if a student was in trouble, the Hat would come to their aid. You'll lead our Aurors into the dungeons to find your friend. This ends tonight."

Finn nodded, even though he had no idea what he'd do with a bloody hat. He knew he just had to do this to save Poe and Rey. No one else in the school mattered as much as they did to him. They were his only friends. Poe was the popular flyboy, and he had a few fans from Quidditch, but Rey was pretty dependent on him, and he on her. They'd been friends since their first train to Hogwarts.

He was about to place the hat on his head when he felt something heavy. Carefully, he stuck his hand in. He pulled out an elegant sword with rubies, made of goblin silver. The name, Gryffindor, stood out in the reflection of the firelight.


	15. Traitor

Rey awoke in a room lit up by a torch onto the wall. There was something in a case on the table, but she was attached to rusted chains that Filch had been threatening to use for years. She barely was able to reach far enough to try and tug at them. She let her head fall back against the moss-covered dungeon wall.

She heard footsteps, and the figure entered the small cell. She looked up. She could now faintly remember the voice. It felt familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was. She let her upper lip curl into a snarl.

"Still want to kill me?" The figure asked.

Rey shot her best glare of intimidation from her street rat days, but it was hard to rattle people with masks. She secretly feared what might be in the box. Would it be used against her? She wouldn't let it show.

"You've killed people, you raised a new basilisk, and you turned my friend and the headmaster to stone," Rey ranted. "Of course I do."

"That's disappointing," he remarked dryly. "I thought you would've given me a chance."

"What do you mean?" She demanded, frustrated and confused. The figure walked over to her and dropped into a crouch, head still hovering over her. Whoever it really was, he was quite tall. In a moment, he removed his mask to reveal black curls and the face of Ben Solo.

Rey gasped and slapped him.

A hand slowly rose to his cheek.

"I deserve that."

"What the hell are you doing?" She demanded. "Let me go! Are you insane?"

"I think I am, to be honest," he admitted before closing his eyes and clutching his head.

"Don't think you're getting off on this one, jerkass," Rey hissed.

"I-I had to do this," he said slowly, his words with the care of traversing a detailed maze. "You don't understand a-all of it, and you w-w-won't, not yet. But it was the best option."

"When does chaining up a girl you claim you love count as the best option?" Rey demanded, tempted to smack him again. Maybe this time she could smack sense into him. "You did hit the Bludger on purpose! You've been trying to kill me!"

"No," he said. "No!"

The last part sounded as if he weren't talking to her.

"I-I need to keep you away from the Knights of Walpurgis," he said. "Please, it'll make sense when I come back to you."

"I don't want you to come back," she said, turning her head so she wouldn't have to face him, wouldn't have to confront her feelings. "You're a monster. You played with my feelings to get something from me- a sacrifice of your least-favorite mudblood."

"Don't call yourself that," he said in hushed tones. "Don't ever call yourself a mudblood."

"Why?" She demanded, finally having courage to look into the eyes of the monster once again. "Because I'm now a perfect pureblood?"

"No," he said, placing his hand on her face. "I never called you one, did I?"

"That's true," Rey reluctantly admitted. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I never thought of you as a mudblood, Rey," he said. "I always saw you as the talented, smart, infuriatingly wonderful Gryffindor you've always been."

"Why are you playing with my feelings now?" She demanded. She had to look away, or she'd start to feel what she felt for him all over again.

"I'm not," he admitted. "I l-l-"

Rey gave an unimpressed look.

"I love you," he said in a quick gasp of breath. His other hand went to her face and he kissed her. Then, with the force of a man being pulled by the back of his cloak, he ripped away. He then opened the box on the table and left.

Rey was now confused. _What the hell is going on? What was that all about?_ She then shifted and felt her wand still in her vest. Her eyes widened in surprise. She lifted her hands to her chest and started reaching for the wand. The metal against her wrists as she stretched her hand to the inside of the vest made her skin feel like it was burning. She gritted her teeth and stretched to grab the wand. She jerked it out, making it clatter onto the floor about a third of a meter from her foot.

She started carefully dragging it towards her with her foot, and stretched her other hand. Again, she felt the burning as she picked up the end of the wand precariously. It slid a little further into her hand.

" _Alohamora_ ," she whispered, and both of the cuffs sprang off. She was surprised to see that her wrists were bleeding. She quickly muttered a healing spell and stood up. She walked over to the table to see the Sunrider Sword sitting in the box.

"He left it for me," she said to herself. She picked up the sword, wondering if it was one like Ben's. She nodded and opened the unlocked door. No one was inside, but there were rose petals left down the corridors. Something out of a romance novel, but helpful nonetheless. She began following the path, twisting and turning through dark corridors.

She saw the light at the end of the tunnel, seeing water reflecting. She stopped before the parapet, and glanced at a hidden angle. She was inside the legendary Chamber of Secrets, the last remainder of Slytherin's prejudice.

She saw a door at the end, and the place was flooded with water. A group dressed suspiciously like Death Eaters stood in the middle as the man with a sword (aka Ben) talked. She couldn't quite hear the words in the echoes. She stumbled and barely caught herself on the edge as the ground rumbled. She looked down to see out of the mouth of the face of Slytherin (she realized that she was in the eye) slither a giant snake as the followers averted their eyes.

Rey gripped her sword tightly and leapt onto the back of the basilisk.


	16. Holy Host

Finn had tracked to the place in the dungeons. After a quick exploration, he and the Aurors found the trail of rose-petals. They shrugged and began following it into the Chamber of Secrets. They entered the eyes of the Slytherin statue, to see Rey hanging onto the plume of the basilisk, hacking at it with her magic sword while trying to block curses.

Finn felt it again. His cowardice, telling him to run.

Stand firm.

He looked around, bewildered. No one had said it, no one else appeared to have heard it. Yet it fortified him. He let out a battle cry and jumped to fight. The first thing he did as he fell, screaming, was stab the right eye out. It was entirely on accident, yet helpful. He started towards the Knights of Walpurgis. He had to keep them off of Rey. He saw Ben trying to get to Rey, and raised the Sword of Gryffindor.

Ben lifted his own sword, began in a pirouette, and almost landed a kick before his blade clanged with Finn's. Finn swung back harder, not afraid anymore. He wouldn't let his fear control him anymore. He was doing this for Poe.

Suddenly, Rey fell off, on the still active side of the basilisk. Finn backed up and ran to her. She barely kept her eyes away from the giant snake. He then reached up and stabbed the other eye out. The basilisk roared out in pain and thrashed violently.

The Aurors dodged as the tangled with Knights of Walpurgis. One particular Knight of Walpurgis advanced on Finn, a jealous expression as he tossed his helmet to the ground. Finn stood and started hitting fast and hard.

"You will never hurt her again!" He swore as he pushed with all of his weight against the block of Ben Solo.

"I never meant to hurt her," Ben snarled.

"Why did you capture her then? Why did you let any of this happen?" Finn demanded.

That's when Solo overpowered him, sending him flying backwards. Ben stood over him menacingly.

"Don't pretend you know a damn thing about me, Calrissian!" He shouted. "I know I don't know a thing about you and don't pretend to anymore! I don't know you, I don't know Dameron, but I do know Rey!"

"Only because you tried to break her!" Finn shouted back as he kicked backwards, struggling to his feet. "Like the little Slytherin monster you are!"

Ben's face clenched in a sadistic face that did not belong to him. He then lifted his blade and unleashed a curse from the blade onto the boy. Rey watched in horror. Even though the others clashed behind her and the snake roared, she felt like it was only the two of them.

Things weren't adding up to her. That face, the random stuttering, the clutching of the head. . . She didn't know the right word for it, but she knew that something wasn't right about him to her.

She still lifted her sword with a newfound strength.

Stand firm.

Now two voices said it in unison. She vaguely wondered if this was the Force as Professor Jinn explained it at work. She then swung her sword at him. He blocked, but stumbled back from the force of the blow. She advanced, taking her steps with the feeling of warriors beside her, within her, following her every movement.

She struck with more force and skill, and he was finding it harder and harder to defend himself as she powered up. She could hear more voices joining the chorus that stopped everyone to hear it.

Stand firm.

Female and male, Scottish, British, Welsh, and Irish accents chorused in a holy harmony as the showdown of light and dark.

Rey unleashed a spell trapped in her blade, the Knockback Jinx. It sent Ben flying onto his back. She stood over him, a fierce expression on her face. The green-glowing sword hovered over his face, ready to slash it. A vengeful part of her wanted it. The darkness was calling to her.

"Stand firm."

Ben gasped as he was bathed in the blue glow of something behind Rey. She turned to see a holy host of ghosts, with one of Anakin Skywalker front and center.

"Grandfather?" Ben asked hoarsely. His face twisted into something wicked again. "Vader, I need your power."

"Not anymore, Tom," Anakin said.

"Tom?" Rey asked, confused.

"Meow."

A cat with no ears or nose that looked suspiciously like a dark lord of the past strolled into the Chamber of Secrets, staring at Ben malevolently.

"Snoke!" Ben cried as he snatched up his cat.

Everyone stared at him. Especially Anakin, although a bearded man was trying hard not to laugh.

"What?" Ben asked.

"That cat," Anakin said with as straight a face as he could imagine. "It's not just a cat?"

"What the hell?" Rey blurted out.

"My thoughts exactly, granddaughter," the bearded man said with a smirk. "As you so eloquently put it."

"It used to belong to James and Lily Potter," a woman with a distinctive braided hairstyle said in a tunic and boots that resembled Rey. She remembered one of Ben's comments and realized that this was Minister Padmé Amidala. "It was one of the two survivors on the attack on the Potter House on Hallow's Eve."

"One survivor was Harry Potter," the bearded man supplied helpfully.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," Padmé said with a mock glare. "The other was this cat."

"And Potter was a Horcrux!" Anakin burst in. "The cat's a Horcrux!"

The other ghosts stared at him.

"I was going to wait to figure out how long it would take them to figure it out," Obi-Wan said.

"Who are you?" Rey demanded.

"Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi, young Ben's namesake and your grandfather," the man said. "Hello, Rey."

"And I'm your grandmother," another woman said. "Siri Tachi."

"Your ancestor, Nomi Sunrider," a woman with flowing hair said.

"Her husband, Ulic Qel-Droma," a man next to her said.

"Vima Sunrider," a tomboyish girl said. "Your great-grandmother."

"Jinn Kenobi, your father," a young man said.

"Father?" Rey's eyes went misty at the sight of her family.

"This is touching," Anakin interrupted. "BUT DID EVERYONE FORGET ABOUT THE HORCRUX CAT?!"

"Normally, I'd say patience, Anakin, but you do have a point," Obi-Wan admitted.

"No!" It was Ben screaming, but a different voice. There was a malevolent look on his face as he got to his feet. Rey barely missed the curse and hit. She knew she had to stand firm, but she was feeling pushed back, even with all the strength of her ancestors behind her. The only ghost who hadn't disappeared to give her strength was Ulic. He was focusing very hard on something.

She stumbled back, almost getting snatched up by the basilisk. She unleashed a dark curse upon it that made it howl in agony. She blocked again as sparks flew from the glowing blades. Ulic then summoned another sword and it dropped into Rey's other hand. She connected the two handles to create a dual-bladed staff.

She was able to defend herself better as the spirits guided her. She blocked the hits and unleashed her own curses as he absorbed hers and she his. Then she saw the cat that he was blocking. She cast a well-timed Knockback Jinx, sending him sprawling. She ran for it. All of her street rat training, all of the energy and Godspeed of a ghost in her movement, keeping her sure-footed over the water. She felt a bare miss for her hair, when she stabbed her sword into the cat. There was a scream, and Ben crumpled.

It was all over.


	17. Scars

Rey awoke in the hospital wing a day later. She'd collapsed immediately due to exhaustion and had been carried up by the Aurors. She awoke in a bed next to Ben, who was alternatively crying and screaming in his sleep for as long as she'd been out.

She'd sat up tentatively to see the Healers standing over Poe.

"He's taking much longer than the others," Madam Longbottom said.

"Something's wrong," a Healer murmured.

Finn then sat up. He quietly slid out of the bed, as if guided by some sort of force. He walked over to his friend, and the adults parted in a melancholy Red Sea. His hand entwined fingers with Poe's. Like a fairytale prince, his eyes fluttered open to see Finn. He smiled.

Rey grinned, and looked over to Ben, hearing the murmuring, seeing the tears. She swung her aching legs out from under the sheets. Her hand went to his face. She was curious as to the Horcrux cat, but it made more sense now. She'd brought more of the real Ben out, and she could see now that Ben cared. Ben made sure she left her wand, left a trail, made sure that she could escape and fight.

It all made sense to her now.

His eyes snapped open and he exhaled sharply. An awkward silence passed through them.

"Ben?"

The way she said his name was full of longing, worry, a need for him, and something else. . .

"It's just me now," he said softly, listlessly. "You probably want to slap me again."

"Not you, Tom, or Snoke, or whatever that was," Rey said.

"I knew something about the voice wasn't right," he muttered. "But I didn't know what else to do. I only hope that Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin can forgive me."

He then sat up and she took a step back.

"I hope you can forgive me," he said earnestly.

"I can," she replied evenly. "It was the Horcrux, not you that tried to hurt me. You fought in every way you could."

"It wasn't enough," he said miserably.

"Considering you've had the Horcrux in your head your whole life, I'd say you did a pretty damned good job," she pointed out.

"I'm sorry anyway, you deserve better," he said. "You're a goddess, and you deserve to be with someone who won't be in therapy for years."

"Therapy?"

"I woke up at one point a few hours, and they were discussing how I'll be put into trauma counseling," he explained.

"Then you need me," she said, taking his hand. "This is a two-way street, you know."

"I know," he said.

Then the twins, Minister Skywalker-Solo, Professor Solo, Mara Jade-Skywalker, and Obi Skywalker ran in. While Jade-Skywalker and Obi walked over to a recovering Luke, the others went straight to Anakin and Ben, who were placed in beds right next of each other. Jacen hugged Ben and Jaina hugged Anakin, then they switched.

"I'm so sorry," Skywalker-Solo exhaled as she sat on the end of Ben's bed.

"It's not your fault," Ben said hesitantly.

"It is," she said. "I let us keep that damned cat, even though it looked like You-Know-Who, and you paid the price."

"I should've said something, should've known better-"

"Son," Professor Solo interrupted. "There's nothing we can do now but move on. We've all had our regrets, and one of the toughest things is to keep going. I know it's going to be hard right now, but I promise, it is going to get better."

"Thank you, Dad," Ben said, holding back sobs. "I'm so sorry, about all these years-"

"I said some things," Professor Solo admitted. "We both tried to hurt each other with words, and I realize that with the way things are between me and your mum, we haven't been the best examples."

Minister Solo-Skywalker turned to Rey.

"Thank you, Miss Sunrider-"

"Sunrider-Kenobi," Rey corrected with a certain proudness. "For both parents."

"Understood," Skywalker-Solo said with a smile. "For a long time, I was Organa-Amidala, because of my mother's close friend, Senator Organa. I understand wanting to respect all of your heritage."

Rey couldn't help but smile. She liked Ben's mother.

"Anyway, I want to thank you, Miss Sunrider-Kenobi, for your help in saving the school," she said. "I'm sure my brother will give your house a lot of points."

"What's going to happen to Ben?" Rey asked.

"We're taking him out for the rest of the semester. He'll come back after Christmas holiday," Skywalker-Solo promised. "I hope you won't hold ill will against him, but I'll understand if you do."

Rey nodded, and looked back to Ben. She let herself smile wider.

"I don't hold anything against him at all," she said. "It was the Horcrux, wasn't it?"

Ben nodded.

"Well, we appreciate you giving him a second chance," Skywalker-Solo said.


	18. Christmas

Snow fell in clean sheets outside of the Dameron Estate. Rey had been asked over, along with Finn. She was still too distant with her mother to spend Christmas with her. She needed to sort out the truth on her own. Still, she watched the snow fall with a childlike wonder as she remembered the rest of the semester that had passed so quickly.

The school was then checked over by basilisk-specialists hired by the Ministry after the incident in the 1992-93 school year. As said, Ben had left the next day. Anakin, Jacen, and Jaina were unusually reserved due to the lack of another brother. Several kids had been given therapists, Rey included.

Poe and Finn's relationship had blossomed. They were almost never apart, like two halves of the same heart. They were still close with Rey, but she sometimes felt like the third wheel. It made her heart ache for her own love life on hold. Still, she was content to just let things be.

Everyone had split up after Christmas dinner, and she was all alone. She'd gotten a surprising amount of things for Christmas from several people thrilled that she'd saved the Wizarding world.

She picked up an anonymous set of peonies and twisted them in her hands. She enjoyed the scent of them, the feel in her hands. She missed him. She sent him a new kitten and a letter, but she hadn't gotten anything from him. She wondered if he'd forgotten about her.

 _Ding-dong._

Sock-footed Rey got to her feet and trudged to the door of the Dameron place. Ms. Dameron leaned out of one of the thresholds.

"Can you get that, dear?" She asked.

Rey nodded, and she opened to see him standing there, sticking out like a crow. She embraced him with all the purity of light, and he with all the passion of fire.


End file.
